


Buy the Stars

by TimmyJaybird



Category: Adam (2009), Jagten | The Hunt (2012)
Genre: Fluff, M/M, Masturbation, Mpreg, Omegaverse, Praise Kink, The smut will come, a/b/o dynamics
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-08-25
Updated: 2014-08-28
Packaged: 2018-02-14 14:20:04
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,405
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2195001
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TimmyJaybird/pseuds/TimmyJaybird
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Adam has always struggled with feeling isolated from the world around him. His status as an Omega, coupled with his Asperger Syndrome, has left him in a world no one but he seems to understand. In an attempt to start anew, he moves to Denmark, accepting a job to work at a University. One chance afternoon collides him with Lucas, the only Alpha that ever left him feeling at peace, and not hating who and what he is.</p><p>But when his heat strikes him unexpectedly, and Lucas offers to help him through it, Adam has little choice. And what comes after will change both their lives forever.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I have wanted to do a longer Lucadam fic for quite some time, and I have been craving omegaverse, so I thought why not both??? :3
> 
> Inspired by Marina and the Diamonds's "Buy the Stars".

Adam glanced over the boxed macaroni and cheese in his hand, attempting to read the back. The Danish felt less strange, now that he’d allowed himself to be immersed in it. Two weeks of being locked up at the university, with books and forcing himself to speak the language he had taken the time to study before his move had helped ease him into it.

When he’d first been offered the job at the university, six months prior, he had been utterly terrified. If it hadn’t been for Beth’s late night calls, telling him this was what he needed, encouraging him- he might not have done it. The idea of learning the language was just as terrifying as the move- but it had happened, both had.

And now he stood, feet on solid ground, feeling like he had accomplished something by coming out today. So far, for two weeks, he had given money to a coworker who lived at the university as well, who had bought him the few items on his list during his visits. Nice enough the man was, Adam was thankful for that.

But now he stood here on his own, having come with the students who car pooled to make the trip to town. Another visit or two, and maybe he would brave the bus down to town. Smiling to himself- something he had begun doing in this new country- he dropped the box in his basket, then another, and another. When he was satisfied by his selection, he made his way to the cashier. He didn’t look her in the eyes, dropped his head and simply spoke as little as possible. Adam never liked interactions- he couldn’t read anyone, their body language made no sense to him, their eyes were deep and terrifying and too much to get lost in.

And he hated that they could smell him.

He’d grown up with the word _omega_ being said with a hint of guilt, a layer of apology over each letter. He hadn’t understood he was different until he’d started to mature, when his father gave him his first suppressant with a sad smile and told him he’d get used to them. Adam had put it on his tongue and immediately spit it out. He didn’t like its weight, it felt like lead covered in chalk. He’d hid it and the next few under his pillow, thinking he could just ignore whatever the pills needed to cover up.

But he’d started getting looks at school- worse than usual. The glares that originally felt like small pebbles under foot turned to needles, straight up his ankles. Even his teachers had looked at him strangely, but he didn’t understand- he would stare at himself in the mirror at night, wondering what they were seeing. Pull at his lips to see his teeth and tongue, his eyelids- he saw pink, nothing more, nothing less.

It hadn’t begun to fall properly into place until his father had been called to the school for a meeting, with Adam in tow- and asked if he had purposefully been not giving the boy suppressants. _Even the teachers notice his pheromones, it’s inappropriate_. Adam’s father had looked at him, and Adam had known he was in trouble, but he didn’t understand. He’d choked on a sob and said he didn’t like the pills, they made his tongue feel funny. His father’s face had softened, but that woman- his principal- she had glared and told him it was a part of _growing up_ for people like him.

_People like him_.

Adam’s father had bought him books, after that. Explaining what an Omega was- that he was different from his father, a Beta. That he was different from most of his classmates- Betas and Alphas mostly. That he was once again in a world separate that others did not understand.

Adam swallowed, giving a quick _thanks_ to his cashier and hurrying out of the store. He didn’t like to think about it, the moment when he realized there was so much about him that others didn’t understand- that he wasn’t even sure he understood.

He had been looking down at his feet, walking quickly, when he collided right into a passerby. Adam stumbled back, losing his balance and falling back down on the sidewalk with a surprised yelp. He dropped his bag, splaying his hands on the gritty sidewalk, staring up at the man that had stumbled back a step as well.

“I’m sorry,” he was offering, bending down and extending a hand to Adam. “Here, let me help you.” Adam hesitating, looking at the hand- not wanting to touch, not wanting contact and that odd oily feeling it would leave on his hands that he’d need to wash off. Strangers left that, he knew. A layer of grime that needed to be scrubbed away.

Adam pushed himself up, not accepting the hand, which was retracted after a moment. The man was watching him behind a layer of glass- his glasses feeling like a wall that Adam liked. He dared to glance at the rims, but no further.

“Sorry,” he mumbled, went to reach for his bag, but the stranger was faster. He offered up a smile- it was charming, a little awkward, but true- and held it out. Adam took it, avoiding contact, staring at the first open button of his shirt. “I should have watched where I was going.”

“My fault too. Oh! Here,” he stooped down, grabbing one of the small boxes of macaroni and cheese that had fallen from the bag, and held it out. “This fell out.” Adam took it, nodding and stuffing it in, inhaling to try and calm himself-

And smelling it, tasting it. The scent that told his mind, his body, who and what he had just pressed against for the briefest of moments. He tensed, and suddenly wanted to run, sprint as far from the Alpha as possible. He clutched his bag, bowing his head again- wishing to disappear.

“Thank you,” he managed, and then, another deep breath later- and the taste on his tongue that made his own pheromones react, he knew, could feel it in his blood- and he was walking quickly away, trying to not show his fear, to keep it buried in his bones.

Alpha reminded him of what he was. Adam didn’t want to be reminded of anything about his existence at all- and not here, not where he was hoping he could escape it all.

*

Adam had a small set of rooms to himself on the campus grounds, as did many of the younger employees. His bedroom, bathroom, and a small kitchen that opened up into his _living room_ , or a couch with a worn out coffee table and a TV. He curled up on the couch at night, feet tucked under the throw pillows he had- black, with the constellations on them, bought online and treasured like the stars themselves- with a book. He rad in the near dark, a tall, skinny lamp shedding yellow over the couch and into his brown curls, enough to light to page. He kept his curtains drawn- he kept to himself, mostly. Tonight was no different, as he tucked his socked feet under the pillows and opened the book, reading over the page and slowly taking the words in. He had read this book before, but now the words were in Danish and took longer to process. Still, he understood them, and that left his chest feeling warm.

Yet, as he turned the page, he felt odd, strange, in his belly and blood. His layer of muscle beneath his skin seemed to itch, and try as he might, there was a taste on his tongue that wouldn’t go away. He set his book down, removing himself from the couch and walking into the kitchen, rummaging in the cabinets for a glass and turning on the tap. He filled it, taking a drink and trying to wash it away.

He exhaled, inhaled, breathed like he had been taught, a way to keep himself calm. He didn’t like when his body felt strange, didn’t like when it didn’t match what his mind mapped out as his expanse of physical existence.

He wanted to blame the Alpha- but he reasoned he couldn’t. He was around Alphas all the time- he avoided them when possible, but it happened. He worked with some, had held discussions with them-

But he didn’t touch. And he was always braced for them. Being taken off guard, it had felt like throwing him into a freezing river and hoping he could ride the current safely out to the bay, to find footing before it turned to ocean and he drowned. He set the glass aside, leaving it on the counter and returning to the couch, to his book, wanting once again to dive into the words.

He would put it all from his mind. He would find a way, he was sure. This was a new country, this was a fresh start- this was his chance to be more than a secluded mind in flesh that felt like an endless betrayal.

 

*

Days worked it from his memory, two to be exact- enough for him to fade back into his work with the telescopes, his books, the small conversations he managed with his coworkers and the students. So when he was asked, one evening, to go into town with some of the students and workers for a star gazing walk- he forced a yes. This was his chance at a new life, and he knew if Beth had been there, she would have grabbed his hand and pulled him along.

He didn’t speak in the backseat of one of the cars being driven, but he was not ignored. He gave nods to the conversation, and was silently grateful the car was full of Betas- the only Alpha driving, and feeling light years away- an older woman, a professor, who Adam had exchanged words with a few times. She was tolerable, and he could foresee becoming perhaps enjoyable. Her knowledge was enough to keep him entertained, so long as he remembered to brace himself for the rush of pheromones she gave off without much thought.

There was a park they intended to spend the evening in, mapping and sketching, studying. Most students wanted to do a write up on what the average person could see on their nightly walk- and extrapolate on how that could help form their own opinions and thoughts on the stars and beyond. Adam just wanted an excuse to star at the sky, and he kept telling himself going out as good. It had to happen. Beth would have encouraged it.

He felt strange, sometimes, using her as a reasoning for anything. But he couldn’t deny she had helped change him, and had he never met her- had they never taken their brief journey together, he knew he never would have had the courage to do this, to move to Denmark.

He looked at Beth as a friend, as a motivation. He only hoped he helped her, in some way.

He stuffed his hands into his jacket pockets, walking separately from the group- following as they dispersed. He had nothing with him except his eyes, and that was enough. He would take everything in, and if he felt the need, he would write his own notes when he returned. He could plot the sky, if he needed to.

He would rather take the time to memorize it.

Adam pulled himself up onto a picnic table- old wood, unpainted, and he found he liked it more than the chipped paint he might have found back home- and looked up. Silently, his mind worked through the constellations, their names, meanings, the specific stars he could see. His lips moved in a silent praise to them, the glittering eyes that stared down at him and saw _Adam_ \- not the man with Asperger syndrome, not the unbonded Omega- but him for everything he was, under skin, in bone, in thought and static fiber. The stars, Adam believed, saw what no one else ever would.

He was roving his eyes along their connections when he was jarred from his thoughts, pulled back to reality by a bark. It broke the silent air around him, and he glanced about. His coworkers and the students had all dispersed, but in the natural lighting he could see a small dog emerging from the shadows. It spotted him and barked once, then rushed over, happily wagging not its tail but half its body. Adam smiled, slipping off the table and bend down, holding out his hand for it to smell.

“Hi,” he whispered, as the dog nuzzled his hand and he managed to scratch its ear. “Are you lost?”

“Fanny!” Adam looked up at the voice, something about it tugging on something in his mind. The dog turned but didn’t run, simply stood and wagged her tail as a man appeared through the dark, taking shape and form and detail- blond hair brushing his forehead and the color of his plaid shirt peeking out from his sweater slightly uneven.

Adam recognized him, and his body tensed as he slowed to a stop, a few feet away.

“Hello.” He smiled when he spoke, glancing at Adam with eyes that could be friendly- but Adam didn’t dare read them as such. The man glanced at the dog, resting his hands on his hips. “I hope she wasn’t bothering you.”

“No.” Adam shook his head, straightened up, and when the man said _Fanny_ again she turned and waddled over happily, settling down at his feet. “Shouldn’t she be on a leash?”

“She’s good, she normally won’t run away.”

“Isn’t there a law about it?” The man smiled, and it gave a light to his face that made Adam relax without his even realizing.

“No. Where are you from?” The question was asked with pure curiosity, no malice nor condescending tones. Adam wondered if he had been already curious because of his accent, and simply hadn’t asked.

“America. New York City. I moved here two weeks ago, I work at the university, with the telescopes. That’s why I’m here- I mean, here here, the park, to see the sky, some of the students wanted to examine them to see what the average person sees on a nightly walk so they can write on how that might affect a person’s view-“ Adam stopped, taking a breath, and realized he had been over speaking. He remembered that, when he ran out of breath it was time to stop.

The little things he did to try and become part of a world that still felt strange to him.

He expected the Alpha to be frowning, watching him with perturbed eyes- but there was a smile on his face, a curve of his lips that was real and made Adam shift from foot to foot, his hands curling.

“You moved quite a ways then. Your Danish is good.” Adam felt his cheeks flushing, averting his eyes. He cursed himself, it was a simple compliment, but he felt flustered still. He had spent so long trying to be worthy of one, trying to earn praise or even just tolerance that receiving it now often left him speechless.

“I learned. Before I came.” Adam glanced at the dog again, who caught his eyes and stood up, wagging excitedly, looking ready to bound over to him. The man glanced at her, then back at Adam and his smile grew.

“Go on Fanny.” She ran over, and Adam crouched down, happily petting her. She served as a good distraction from the smell of the Alpha’s pheromones in the air- not strong, not suffocating this time, but there. He happily ruffled her fur instead of focusing on the way the scent coated his tongue, brought a taste to his mouth that was not unpleasant. “It was smart to learn.”

Adam only nodded, letting moments pass in silence as the dog took up his attention. It was broken moments later, as the man approached, crouching down himself and petting the dog’s back.

“She likes you.” Adam glanced at him, made the mistake of catching his eyes- and his breath left his lips. A rich, dark amber, alive even in the dark of night, striking enough that they could pry beneath his thin layer of flesh and explore his insides. The man held his gaze, and when Adam looked away, offered up, “I’m Lucas.”

“Adam.” Adam moved to extend his hand, then thought better- didn’t want the contact. Exchanging names meant this man was no longer a stranger, but that did not completely erase that odd feeling when he was touched before he wanted to be. Yet, he wasn’t sure he _didn’t_ want to be.

Except that he was sure the Alpha’s skin would make his own pheromones react, and he didn’t want that. He wanted to be placid, unreadable, like the world was to him. Let them be just as lost as he had been for so long- as he still was, on his bad days.

Lucas nodded, standing up, and Adam followed, not wanting to be so close and so much smaller- hated feeling like prey. “It was nice to meet you, Adam. I am sorry about earlier.” Adam shrugged, trying to not pull up memories of pushing up, even ever for briefly, against the Alpha’s chest. “Perhaps I’ll see you around?”

“Maybe.” Adam glanced back down at the dog, and heard Lucas chuckle.

“I hope I do. Fanny can always use the company.” He nodded, looked as if he wanted to reach out to Adam, but didn’t. Instead he whistled, turning, and the dog ran after him, following him off into the night. Adam watched, until they were gone, specks of nothing in the dark, before he moved. And when he did, it was to pace around the picnic table, staring up at the sky, trying to focus on the stars instead.

He smelled him, even when he was gone. He tasted it, and having had minutes to sink into the smell, the taste, it was pleasing, it made his skin feel like velvet running over him in warm strips. It made him aware of his own pheromones- ones he did not smell but he _knew_ were there.

He wondered how strong they were to Lucas. The Alpha had made no move to recognize or acknowledge his status as an Omega- particularly an unbonded Omega his age. Adam was not used to that- and as he wrapped his arms around himself in an attempt to sink back into his skin, away from the world around him, he wondered if the man had somehow not even noticed.

He wasn’t sure if that was even possible. But then again, Adam wanted to think that, in this new life, this new country- this new expanse of reality- anything was possible.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologize for my slow updates with everything, classes begin again next week, I've got full time hours at my job, and I'm tutoring someone alongside all this. Plus, I've been pretty sick the past few days.
> 
> But hey, let's hope I can update my fics twice weekly, be that this or Orchids and Irises :3 We'll see.

Lucas was relieved, come the end of his day, as the last child filtered out of the school. Even though his name had been cleared of those horrid accusations, he knew many people still looked at him as guilty. It felt like a miracle that he had managed to keep his job at all. Not that he particularly wanted it, at this point. It was only a necessity.

He did not have to stay to lock up that evening, and stepped out into the cool late autumn air, taking a deep breath. That meant he had the evening to himself- which really meant playing fetch with Fanny and having a few beers until the night faded into dreams. Which was, on most evenings, fine with Lucas.

Except that he had barely been home when he was suddenly itching to leave. He paced, Fanny watching from where she lounged on the couch, dark eyes following as he reached the end of the room, straightened a book on a shelf, turned and made his way back. There was a loneliness in his bones, odd and creeping from marrow into blood. He had grown accustomed to evenings alone- there was the occasional night with his friends, but those grew fewer and fewer for him. Marcus came by, from time to time- but the accusations had decimated Lucas’s plans for his son to live with him. He was working, slowly, at convincing Kirstin to let go of him again- especially because Marcus still wanted it, had spent so much time with Lucas during that dark time- but it was taking time.

Lucas sighed and walked over to the door, slipping into his shoes and whistling for Fanny. She hopped off the couch and hurried over happily, following him out the door and into the night. Perhaps a walk would help clear his mind.

*

Adam sat on his couch, book in hand, feet neatly tucked under his star pillows, trying to lull his mind. He had an early day tomorrow, he knew- he had to give the telescopes a good inspection before giving a demonstration to some of the classes all afternoon. He looked forward to it, even though at once it might have been terrifying. When he was talking about space, the stars above and the mysteries beyond, he felt like he had power, like he stepped out of himself and became something without skin and bone and blood. He became light, blinding. He craved it.

His mind did not seem to want to let him sleep, though. As he flipped page by page, his mind read half the words he was presented with, otherwise filling in the gaps with a set of amber eyes, hidden behind a glass wall- one that Adam had the strange urge to want to touch, pull down. The name _Lucas_ rang through his head, and he didn’t understand it.

Frustrated, he closed his book, setting it aside and getting up, crossing the small room. He pulled back one of his dark curtains, looking out and up, at the night sky. Dark with specks of light, tiny bits of existence that didn’t judge him, would never judge him.

He wondered if Lucas was looking up that night, at the sky as well. He wondered if the man might be like the stars themselves- if perhaps he wouldn’t judge him. He hadn’t said a word, made a single move, to signal that he had even acknowledged Adam’s status as an Omega. That alone was enough to make Adam feel an odd heat inside, a giddiness he hadn’t ever felt before.

*

Adam had his hands stuffed in his pockets, wanting to twitch, to pass, to walk away from the store he stood by and pretend he had never come out in the first place. He had spent his day thinking he was crazy- checking the telescopes, giving his lectures- crazy to think he might be able to chance a meeting with the man again. But when some of the students and one of his coworkers were planning a trip into town, he agreed to come- not because he needed anything, but in the hopes that he might see the blond Alpha again, might chance a sentence or two. He wanted to hear his voice, the way it sang in Danish through his mind with words he had only recently come to know.

Adam didn’t know what was wrong with him, and he was beginning to worry that he was ill.

Still, here he stood, outside the store, waiting for someone who might never come. He felt the shape of his phone in his pocket and thought to pull it out, check his e-mail, perhaps pick up where he left off on an article one of the professors had emailed him to read- _no, no you’ll miss him_. Sighing, Adam settled for tracing its shape in his pocket, looking down at the ground, afraid to catch anyone’s eye. He felt vulnerable, alone with seemingly no purpose, and hoped he coul fade away from eyes that did not matter.

_So Lucas matters now?_

He was sucking on his lower lip, mapping out constellations in his mind, when he smelled it, the warm scent in the air that somehow, his mind had committed to memory. He glanced up, saw Lucas only a few yards away, walking down the sidewalk on his phone. Adam jerked, straightening up, wanting to be noticed, but not wanting to assert himself- feeling awkward and clumsy in his skin. Luckily, Lucas looked up, glancing at him and smiling, offering a wave with his free hand.

As he approached, Adam caught the tale end of his conversation, “I’ll talk to your mom, and we’ll plan a visit, sound good? Ah, I love you too.” He was smiling as he hung up, tucking the phone into his pocket, glancing at Adam in a way that made the brunet feel like his bones were melting. “Hello Adam.”

“Hi.” Adam glanced up, then down, at the collar of Lucas’s shirt. He wondered who Lucas had been talking to- wondered if perhaps the Alpha was bonded, and he had missed it. He thought to inhale, to try to decode his pheromones, but did not want to risk the flood to his senses- wasn’t even sure if he could figure it out. He had never been good at reading others- body language, spoken words, pheromones- he felt alien to it all.

Lucas was smiling at him, glancing past him. “Did you forget something on your last visit?”

“Wha?” Adam glanced back at the store, blushing. “Oh-uh, no. No. Some other people from the university were taking a trip into town, and I thought it would be good for me to get out- see, Beth always said I needed to get out and be around people more, that it would be good for me, and since I moved here trying to change things I thought maybe-“ Adam paused, out of breath, realizing he had been running on, and the flush on his cheeks darkened. “Maybe it would be good to just get out. Sorry, I get...carried away sometimes.”

“Nothing wrong with conversation.” Lucas’s smile was so warm, so genuine, that Adam felt his heart suddenly rushing in his chest. “Is Beth your girlfriend?”

“Ex, actually. But she’s a good friend now.” Lucas nodded. “Were you talking to your girlfriend, on the phone just now?” Lucas’s smile changed- diminished slightly, and Adam pulled his hands from his pockets, holding them up in a defeated way. “I’m sorry, was that inappropriate? You don’t have to answer.”

“No, no it’s fine.” The smile returned. “After all, I asked you- it’s only fair. It was my son, Marcus, actually. He’s with his mother, my ex-wife.” Adam nodded, feeling an odd sort of relief bubbling up from his belly.

“So you have a broken bond?” His face flushed again, and he was shaking his head. “Dammit, that was stupid I’m sorry I shouldn’t ask, I’m so bad-“

“It’s fine.” Lucas reached out, gently touching Adam’s arm, fingers trailing along the fabric of his jacket. “No harm in the question. Yes, I do. But she was a Beta, it wasn’t that bad.” Adam nodded, and wondered if Lucas could see the other questions running through his head. He was almost too distracted to realize himself they were there- Lucas’s hand on his arm felt like it was soaking into his skin, grabbing his bone and stroking. He liked it. “You have other questions?” Adam glanced up, and Lucas chuckled. “I can tell. If you’re okay waiting a minute, maybe we can talk for a little?”

Adam glanced about, seeing not a sign of anyone he had come with, and then gave a nod. “I’d like that,” he admitted, and Lucas’s hand squeezed his arm once, before he slipped by, making his way into the store.

Once he was gone, Adam wrapped his arms around himself, exhaling his held breath. Lucas’s scent clung to the air around him, warm and sinking into his body through his clothing, his pores. He wanted to wrap himself up in it- he’d never been around anyone, Alpha or otherwise, who had made him feel like that. Made his insides warm and coil up tightly. He wasn’t sure what it was, but he liked it. He thought he did.

Lucas didn’t take long, emerging a few minutes later with a bag hung over one wrist. He walked over to Adam, giving him a nod, and the two started down the sidewalk. Adam didn’t say anything, was far too _aware_ of the man next to him, warm with his scent and those hands- that one that had touched him, so briefly. His mind was racing to the point of dizziness.

“Are you busy, working at the university?” Lucas asked, and Adam glanced at him, nodding.

“Yes. They keep me very busy. I help take care of the telescopes and I give lectures on how to use them, along with what you can see through them. I’m working on a few articles as well, and they plan to send me some to edit. It’s fascinating, really, the technology is amazing and the sky is so clear here, you can see so much, I could stay up all night staring at the sky.” Adam took a breath, whispering, “was that too much?”

“It was just right.” Lucas nearly grinned, reaching over and pressing a hand to the small of Adam’s back. The touch sent a jolt through Adam, yet he did not try to pull away. That level of grime that stranger might have Lucas seemed to lack. For a moment, Adam wondered what his hand might feel like on his skin.

“I talk too much,” Adam admitted, “when I get nervous sometimes. Beth told me if I need to take a breath I’ve said too much.”

“It sounds like she taught you a lot.” Adam nodded. “Don’t worry about talking too much, Adam. I like it.” Lucas’s lips quirked up, and Adam felt his heart in his throat. “It is good you like what you do.”

“What do you do?” Lucas paused, stopped walking for a moment, and Adam stopped a step away looking back. Just when he thought Lucas might not answer, he took the step between them, then one ahead.

“I work in a Kindergarten with the kids.”

“Do you like kids?” There was a pause again, but no in Lucas’s strides.

“I used to,” he finally offered, and Adam wondered if it was appropriate to ask why he no longer did. Before he could though, Lucas was gesturing to a house. “Would you like to come in?”

Adam considered it, then nodded. His phone lay silent in his pocket, so he assumed no one was looking for him. He followed Lucas to the door, heard the sound of nails on wooden floor as the door opened and Fanny made her way to them happily. She picked up speed when she saw Adam, launching up to paw at his legs for attention, which he was happy to give her. Lucas toed his shoes off, stepping into the house and moving towards the kitchen.

“Would you like something to drink?” he called back, as Adam managed to get Fanny back enough to get his shoes off.

“No, thank you.” He stepped away from the door, the dog following behind as he walked the corner to the living room, glancing about. He crossed the room, passed the TV and couch and towards the book shelf, glancing at the titles, which blended into an array of novels to a few stray kids books, to titles that Adam couldn’t guess a genre for from just those few words.

He didn’t hear Lucas enter the room, nor smell him as he glanced up at a picture, thinking the man had to be Lucas- yes, definitely, he didn’t look that different, just younger by maybe ten years. He had a boy in his lap, the two smiling- outside with rish orange and yellow leaves around them. When Lucas reached out, placed his hand on Adam’s back, the Omega jumped, nearly out of his skin, but relaxed as Lucas’s scent flooded him.

“I didn’t mean to frighten you,” he whispered, glancing up and finding the photo Adam was staring at. “Marcus, when he was younger.” Adam nodded, not really hearing Lucas, too preoccupied by his touch. Something felt like fire in him, and it was strange, new- terrifying and thrilling and that itself was unlike him. He let Lucas guide him away, towards the couch, where they both sat down.

“Does he not live with you?”

“No, he lives with his mother. He visits though.” Lucas leaned back, tipping his head back. Adam took advantage, glanced at his throat, felt his fingers twitching to touch. He didn’t know what was happening, why this man was pulling such reactions from the very pit of his stomach- but it was happening and he couldn’t deny it, at least mentally to himself. He took a deep breath, but Lucas’s scent made his heart beat wildly, made his cock begin to ache.

Adam knew what it was like to be aroused- he wasn’t naive, he’d had his few rounds of intimacy with Beth, even if they had been different from what he had been taught sex would be like for him, as an Omega, since she was a Beta. He’d never had anyone inside him, never had been taken- nothing except himself, his fingers, during his short, sparsely placed heats.

Adam shook his head, not sure why that mattered now. Was he attracted to Lucas? Was he just reacting to being alone and close to an unbonded Alpha? He wasn’t sure, and that- that was terrifying.

Adam shifted, more onto his head, closer, wanted to reach out and touch. He wasn’t sure if he made a noise, or if Lucas could simply smell it on him- but the Alpha’s eyes opened, glanced at him from behind his glasses, and Adam was drowning in that rich amber. Lucas’s tongue darted out, along his lower lip, and Adam felt mad, trapped and confined in skin and bone and flesh that he wanted, needed to strip away. When he moved, he felt like a wave, a wash of water that melted along the Alpha’s side as he turned his face, enough that Adam could catch his mouth in a clumsy, quick kiss. The brunet felt as if he wasn’t even inside his own body, as if he hadn’t even asked his body to move in such a way- but Lucas’s mouth, for that brief breath, was enough to jolt him, to make his belly tight.

Adam pulled back, eyes wide, cheeks flushing. “I’m sorry!” He tried to lean back, but Lucas reached out, grabbing his wrist and jerking him down, Adam losing his balance and tumbling into him, chest to chest, his mouth crashing into Lucas’s again. This time, Lucas moved his mouth, pressing into Adam in a way that had him giving a small mewl, shifting and reaching for him, grabbing at his shirt.

Adam was sure this had no been his intention, seeking out Lucas today. He hadn’t planned on melting into him as his mouth was teased, lips kissed to the point of growing tender, but he couldn’t find a reason to dislike it. Lucas wasn’t unattractive- quite the opposite, he could admit- even if he had, at first, been left with a distaste for him over the fact that he was an Alpha.

Yet, he had not tried to exploit Adam’s standing as Omega, still had yet to acknowledge it. The way he kissed Adam, without a flood of pheromones in the air- they could have been two Betas, had anyone looked and not been allowed to smell the faint differences in their scents.

Lucas’s tongue traced the seam of Adam’s mouth, and Adam opened, allowing him inside to trace the shapes of his teeth, find his own tongue and pin it. Adam shifted, trying to get closer, and Lucas pulled him fully onto his lap, arms wrapping around him, enclosing him in as they splayed on his back. Adam squirmed, reaching up and sinking his hands into Lucas’s hair. He hadn’t kissed anyone since Beth- hadn’t really wanted to, wasn’t sure if he had been clinging to her ghost still, or if he had just never had an interest.

Was that heat in his belly interest? He wanted to compare it to that fluttering feeling he had around her, but he couldn’t think in that moment. Lucas’s tongue was stealing his breath, making him give up noises that he had never made for anyone before- small sounds, moans and mewls as he clutched, ground down against him and- oh. _Oh_.

Adam pulled back, slightly, shifting as Lucas helped to lift him so he was straddling his lap properly. His fingers tightened in the blond’s hair, tugging, and Lucas hissed, smiling against his lips briefly before their mouths were separated. Adam forced himself to stare, to meet those amber eyes behind their wall of glass, wishing he could read what Lucas was thinking. He had absolutely no idea what might be inside his head.

“Sorry,” as all Adam could force out, and the hands on his back gripped at his jacket.

“I think we’re both to blame for this,” Lucas admitted- yet made no move to release Adam.

“I...how did we even...” Adam finally looked away, wanting to drop back into the black behind his eyelids, fall away from everything. In his mind, he could paint the stars and everything would be _fine_ , because they didn’t judge. They didn’t want or need or expect anything of him- yet they did not punish him for his need of them.

Adam’s thoughts were broken by his phone audibly vibrating in his pocket. He jerked at the sensation, before freeing one hand finally from Lucas’s hair and digging into his pocket, finding a text from one of his coworkers. They were waiting for him.

“Oh. I need to go.” He stuffed it back into his pocket, rocking away from Lucas and managing to grind down into his lap again- feeling what was quite obviously a result of their rushed, sudden kiss. It made Adam blush- but Lucas drew no attention to himself otherwise, even held Adam as he managed to stand, before standing himself.

“I’m sorry, again,” he offered, following Adam towards the door. “I didn’t...I didn’t mean for that to happen. Really.” He leaned against the frame after it was opened, Adam taking one step outside but not pulling away completely. “I hope I didn’t upset you and...” Lucas trailed off, his free hand moving behind his head, rubbing the back of his neck. “Maybe you’d like to get a drink sometime or something?”

“Uh. Me?” Adam tightened his jacket around him, the sun setting quickly and leaving a chill in the air. He wasn’t sure Lucas really meant to ask to see him again, and he wondered curiously what they’d be drinking and why that was so important.

“Yeah. You.” Lucas reached his hand from his neck, tapping the tip of Adam’s nose, and the brunet blushed, looking down. “If you wouldn’t mind seeing me again. I could show you around maybe?”

“Okay.” Adam looked back up, smiling tentatively, and Lucas returned it, tenfold.

“Okay.” The Omega reached into his pocket, pulling his phone out, and Lucas took it, keeping his charming smile as he typed in a number, and then handed it back. “Should I walk you back?”

“No. I can manage.” He shifted, hesitating, before Adam settled for stuffing his hands into his pockets and giving a nod. “Uhm. I’ll call you?”

“Please do.” Lucas chuckled, it was a soft,warm sound, one that Adam wanted to wrap himself up in. Instead he gave a half smile and turned, forcing himself to take each step away from the house, and back in the direction he had originally come. He didn’t look back to see how long Lucas watched him, instead kept his eyes on the ground, watching the cracks in the sidewalk pass bye.

*

Lucas stayed in the doorway until Adam was gone, around the corner and just a memory in his hands and on his lips. When there was nothing but air on the sidewalk in front of him, he pulled his door shut, turning and leaning against it, dragging his hand over his face.

What the hell had he been thinking?It had been mere coincidence that he had run into the Omega again, and Lucas couldn’t deny that it had pleased him. The first bump and jolted something inside him that he hadn’t known really existed- he had never been overly affected by anyone, not even Kirstin when they were bonded. But Adam- his touch had seared through clothing and into skin. He had a face that Lucas had remembered, soft and young with those blue eyes that were too much to stare at for too long.

Heaving a sigh, Lucas pushed off the door, headed towards his kitchen. He needed a beer. He needed a six pack to get through this. He’d dated, somewhat, after Kirstin- but he had never been struck with the want to kiss, to touch, so much so as the moment he had had Adam on the couch, sitting so close- a ball of heat radiating a faint scent that Lucas couldn’t believe he tuned into so well.

He had worked so hard to keep his own pheromones under control, in a way he had never had to work before. He did not want to sway the Omega in that way, that had always felt unfair, a coercion that Lucas found distasteful.

Yet, when Adam had leaned into him, given a quick dance of lips, Lucas had lost some of his control- over his hands, had pulled the Omega close, and the memory left him nearly shaking. He wanted to kiss him again. He wanted to wrap his arms around him and hide him from the world, and he knew barley his name.

Lucas felt like a madman, and wondered what sort of spell the man had managed to cast on him.

*

Adam spoke not a word except what was absolutely required on the trip back to the university. He was quick to excuse himself to his room, locking the door behind him and making his way towards his bedroom. He threw himself on the bed, face buried in his pillows, and trembled, letting his breaths rush out, everything he had kept in creeping up on him like sand in an hourglass.

He squirmed, Lucas’s mouth hot in his mind, making his thighs tremble, his body ache for something he had yet to know. He squirmed until his jeans began to fall down his hips, forced everything down to his knees and arched up onto his knees, pressing two fingers into his wet hole with a soft cry. He bit at his pillow, letting the fire in his blood take hold in bone, burn him up alive as he thrust in a way only he ever had.

He wondered, from time to time, what it might be like to be opened up, thrust into. What it might be like to have someone’s weight pinning him down to the bed. But the wonderings had stayed as such- questions for when the stars were absent and sleep was a friend fought with.

Now, knuckle deep inside himself and wanting more, hot from the inside out, he wondered what Lucas would feel like, pressing him into the mattress with slow, long thrusts into his body. He wondered and wanted and hated himself for it-

He didn’t want to need. Adam didn’t want to ever need anything more than himself and the sky above.

He didn’t want to become dependent, he felt far too much of that already, had for so long. He wanted to simply be left alone, to navigate the world in his own way, with his own footsteps.

Alone. Adam anticipated that, for so long. Beth had cracked his expectations, but he had patched them, when she left. But now- now with the thought of Lucas’s breath on his neck, feeling like a flame trapped inside a stone cup, Adam didn’t want to be alone.

Not tonight, at least.


End file.
